Gamer

If you aren't sure what games will appeal to the gamer in your life, this list of the Xbox 360's biggest games of the year might help: Kinect: Xbox Kinect lets you ditch the controller and play video games using only your body. Kinectimals, Kinect Sports and Dance Central show what motion control can really do and bring on new generation gaming possibilities. Call Of Duty: Black Ops: Black Ops is the most popular and one of the best games of this holiday season. Amazing single-player, in-depth multiplayer and the return of the zombie mode will keep the hardcore gamer in your life satisfied till next Christmas.

Casie Kaup spends most days selling over-the-counter medicines, but since last December she likes to spend her spare time stepping into the shoes of her level 69 blood-elf warlock named Kusi on the online role-playing game World of Warcraft. Before her friend got her playing she would make fun of people who spent their daysquesting and hunting down Murlocs. Once she tried it out she soon became addicted to the Warcraft and has become very engulfed in the world. Casie has her very own minion and lead a guild of 112 people.

There are few people who do not love Super Mario. The original Nintendo and the Paper Mario series have gained a cult following since they were released on the N64, so Nintendo decided combining the two games would give players the best of both worlds on the Wii. The game plays, for the most part, like Super Mario with simple Goomba smashing combat taking the game away from the turn-based combat of Paper Mario titles. It takes advantage of the visual style of 2D characters on a 3D environment by actually letting the players flip their character.

This chapter in the Resident Evil story takes place in Africa, with a look quite similar to Black Hawk Down. While this gritty and worn setting may lend itself to a horror genre, Resident Evil 5 feels more like an action game than the survival horror of the previous games. People have attributed this to the addition of your partner, who is with you during the entire game, though she can feel more like a weight than a strength. She has a habit of using the wrong gun for the situation and will sometimes stand next to you, clueless, rather than helping when you need it. The game shines, however, in co-op mode, where you and a friend can take the reins of the main characters and bring down the monsters as a team.

The original Halo was one of the first big games for the Xbox. Its new take on health by giving players a regenerative shield and its confident and cool lead, Master Chief, made it a fan favorite. Halo 3 had a large fan base, product tie-ins and large expectations. When it was finally released, the game proved to be more flash than substance. Its gameplay stayed the same featuring most weapons from past Halo games with only minor alterations. The storyline attempted to tie everything together, but only managed to leave everything confusing and random.

Getting into any video game genre can be difficult. A first-person shooter has just as much of a learning curve as a role-playing game. A cute cartoon game about kids trick-or-treating is the best way for new gamers to learn about these games. You start the game, choosing the boy or girl character, only to have your sibling captured by goblins. As you venture around the neighborhoods clearing the houses of candy, you will come across the goblins that captured your sibling. Your homemade robot costume transforms you into a mighty robot to battle the goblins.

The atrocities committed by an occupying force are hardly displayed on the evening news. It's hard to get a feeling for a people who lost their country, but Homefront brings that feeling to our front door when a unified Korea invades America. Homefront never lets you forget why you are fighting, from watching the Koreans murder a family in front of their son to the football field that is used as a mass grave. As a member of the remaining American resistance, you will fight to your last breath to get your home back.

A game based around mining for minerals and building unique creations that can be played on your own or with others on a server? Most gamers would assume you are talking about Minecraft, but while Terraria shares a lot with Minecraft, it's unique. For starters, the game is a 2D sprite-based game, making the world look more like Castlevania than Minecraft. The game has a lot to do with the basic principle of mining and collecting resources, but you will spend a lot of time fighting unique and varied enemies, too. During the day, you have simple slime creatures creeping up on you while you work, but during the night you will fight off waves of zombies and demons.

The original Godfather game was a stroke of brilliance, which allowed players to feel like they were the missing part from the movie. When the Godfather needed a job done in the movie, you were the man doing it. Playing the game made your attachment to the movie even stronger. The Godfather 2, on the other hand, feels more like a cheap way to cash in on a successful game. The Godfather 2 video game is more of a sequel to the first game than a video game version of the second movie. Instead of following the story of the movie, you spend most of your time taking over businesses and wiping out other families with few ties to the movie storyline thrown in. The gameplay gets tiresome quickly, and the constant interruptions of rival gangs attacking your business make working your way through the cities even more unenjoyable.

A game based around mining for minerals and building unique creations that can be played on your own or with others on a server? Most gamers would assume you are talking about Minecraft, but while Terraria shares a lot with Minecraft, it's unique. For starters, the game is a 2D sprite-based game, making the world look more like Castlevania than Minecraft. The game has a lot to do with the basic principle of mining and collecting resources, but you will spend a lot of time fighting unique and varied enemies, too. During the day, you have simple slime creatures creeping up on you while you work, but during the night you will fight off waves of zombies and demons.

The original Portal had no flashy release. It was stuffed in the Orange Box with two proven titles and included as a bonus, but with its challenging gameplay and unique touches, it became an unexpected hit. Portal 2 brings you back to the Aperture Science Labs, years after you killed its caretaker and escaped. However, its lack of maintenance won't make your escape any easier. Glados is back and returned you to testing the Portal gun. The tests will require more than mastery of momentum to complete with the inclusion of lasers, tractor beams and more.

Getting into any video game genre can be difficult. A first-person shooter has just as much of a learning curve as a role-playing game. A cute cartoon game about kids trick-or-treating is the best way for new gamers to learn about these games. You start the game, choosing the boy or girl character, only to have your sibling captured by goblins. As you venture around the neighborhoods clearing the houses of candy, you will come across the goblins that captured your sibling. Your homemade robot costume transforms you into a mighty robot to battle the goblins.

If you aren't sure what games will appeal to the gamer in your life, this list of the Xbox 360's biggest games of the year might help: Kinect: Xbox Kinect lets you ditch the controller and play video games using only your body. Kinectimals, Kinect Sports and Dance Central show what motion control can really do and bring on new generation gaming possibilities. Call Of Duty: Black Ops: Black Ops is the most popular and one of the best games of this holiday season. Amazing single-player, in-depth multiplayer and the return of the zombie mode will keep the hardcore gamer in your life satisfied till next Christmas.

You have seen probably tons of lists of the best gifts for gamers listing all sorts of top-selling games. They are right, we do want those. We probably bought them the day they came out and already beat them. If you are worried that might be the case or just can't find the game they do want, here is a helpful list of other gifts gamers crave. Controllers: We want to be able to play multiplayer when friends come over and be able to switch out controllers when one dies. Just make sure to buy the official controllers because controllers from other makers don't last long.

Here is some more helpful gamer to English translations: Clan/Guild: A group of people who usually play games together, this usually applies to a single game and it helps improve teamwork and cooperation in multiplayer matches. Clan typically refers to shooter games and Guild is usually reserved for online roleplaying games. Avatar: A graphical representation of the player. This can be the character in the game or an representation on the game network like a Mii or a Xbox Avatar. Backwards Compatibility: This refers to a multimedia device capable of displaying not on the current generation of media but also the previous.